Chapter 81: The Jokester Invited by the Monkey

The staff member stood on the platform, stomping and jumping, but it remained unmoved, as if it were a fingerprint lock on a cellphone, only able to be unlocked by Ma Bowen’s footprint.

“There’s nothing wrong with this thing, see? It opens and closes just as it should,” the staff member said, having checked it repeatedly and found no issues. No matter who tried, there was nothing amiss.

“How about we try again, Ma Bowen?” the director on set suggested, his tone conciliatory. The studio for “One Step to the End” was only a temporary stage, shared by three or four shows and rebuilt for each recording.

But after so many episodes, there had never been a problem—yet today, out of all ten contestant spots, it was number six that was acting up!

Ma Bowen, already battered and dazed from falling, shook his head and forced himself to endure the discomfort. “I’ll give it another try,” he said.

He cautiously stretched out his left foot and tested the platform. Nothing happened.

At that moment, the eyes of the audience, staff, contestants, and host all turned to Ma Bowen’s right foot. Would he fall this time when he stepped down?

There could hardly be a more sacred moment—the hearts of everyone present raced as he lifted his right foot. Even Zhang Chu stared without blinking.

“Whew, looks like it’s fine?” Ma Bowen exclaimed with relief. Even though the floor below was cushioned with foam, the feeling of falling was truly unpleasant. He never wanted to experience it again; it was like torture.

He couldn’t care less about being the “Standing God” now; all he wanted was to sit down and rest.

Suddenly, thunderous applause erupted throughout the hall. The audience cheered Ma Bowen on.

Anyone not present could hardly imagine such a scene, as if he’d just been crowned MVP!

This footage, released online as a behind-the-scenes blooper, went viral in an instant. Ma Bowen had finally achieved his wish—becoming one of the unluckiest people around.

Zhang Chu pursed his lips, thinking it was far too soon to celebrate. The power of the system was not so easily dispelled.

Sure enough, just as Ma Bowen waved excitedly to the crowd, he vanished with a “duang,” dropping out of sight once more.

The raucous applause fell silent for a moment, then exploded into laughter!

This episode must have been infiltrated by a secret agent from a comedy show—they must have gotten the script wrong!

“Is he really not a comedian hired by the production team?”

“I can’t stop laughing. Who got this on video? Someone please edit a highlight reel—he’d be the king of Bilibili’s meme section!”

“He must be the joker sent by the monkeys, here to make me laugh myself to death so he can inherit my virtual coins and credit points.”

“My stomach hurts from laughing—did you see his face? Completely dumbfounded, absolutely hilarious.”

“I must have joined a fake taping of ‘One Step to the End.’ Did I walk onto the wrong set or what?!”

“Someone help me—my face is about to freeze from laughing so much.”

The audience doubled over with laughter. Who would have thought a show’s punishment device could be so clever, targeting just one person?

The atmosphere was festive, but the show had to go on—they couldn’t delay forever.

“How about this: let’s have Ma switch seats. The camera can stop filming the wide shot and just focus on his close-up. We’ll swap the number on position five to six. That should work,” suggested one of the on-site coordinators.

The director immediately agreed. “Good idea. Cameras, no wide shots.”

Dazed from his falls, Ma Bowen was helped back onto the stage. He glanced uneasily at the newly numbered platform, already dreading another mishap.

“I don’t want to be the ‘Standing God’ anymore. I quit—I’m not filming this show...”

After all was said and done, Ma Bowen was only eighteen. After a string of mishaps and being laughed at by the audience, he was ready to bow out.

But quitting halfway through the recording was unthinkable—neither the director nor the producers would allow it. They’d have to start over from scratch otherwise.

So Ma Bowen’s handler hurried onto the stage to console him. “Ma, we’re already halfway through the marathon—just a bit further to the finish line. Hang in there.”

As he spoke, there was a sudden plop—both of them dropped out of sight together!

The hall fell silent. The other contestants edged away from the challenge platform, terrified they might fall too.

Contestant number five had stood there without issue, but as soon as Ma Bowen swapped over, the problem recurred and even dragged the staffer down with him.

Everyone understood then—it wasn’t the machine, it was the person!

Only Zhang Chu knew the real reason, though even he wondered if all these falls would make Ma Bowen lose his mind.

“System, how long does the bad luck from that notebook last?” he asked inwardly.

“If someone else writes the name, the effect lasts twenty-four hours. If the person writes their own name, it lasts forty-eight. Once time is up, the effect stops immediately. No need to worry—there’s no danger to life!”

Hearing this, Zhang Chu’s mouth twitched. He felt a twinge of guilt—forty-eight hours of this might be worse than death for poor Ma Bowen.

“It seems I’ll have to use the remaining two slots very carefully,” he thought.

While Zhang Chu was lost in thought, Ma Bowen absolutely refused to stand on the challenge platform. He simply moved to the side of the stage, letting the cameras shoot his upper body from a misleading angle.

In this state, Ma Bowen was just going through the motions, with no heart to answer questions correctly. He simply answered wrong to end the challenge.

The whole incident stole the show—thankfully, it couldn’t be included in the main broadcast, or Zhang Chu’s own spotlight would have been completely eclipsed.

No one cared who the “Standing God” was anymore. Even the remaining contestants performed poorly, all worried the platform might drop them without warning.

Zhang Chu was surprised to realize he’d achieved ten consecutive victories without lifting a finger, only using the system once or twice—a truly impressive feat!

With so many correct answers and ten contestants eliminated, he swept almost all the prizes the show had to offer.

He won a Samsung phone for three consecutive victories, a laptop for four, an iPhone for five, a MacBook for six, and a five-day trip to Seoul for seven. The producers had never imagined someone would win so many times in a row, let alone defeat ten opponents in succession!

As the defending champion, Zhang Chu also won a year’s car lease and a string of trips to Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, and the US.

There were also “position” prizes—fridges, TVs, DSLRs, air conditioners—Zhang Chu took them all. Each might only be worth a few thousand yuan, but together, they added up to a small fortune.

His home appliances and electronics would get a complete upgrade—though figuring out how to haul them all home was going to be a real challenge.